The media have often referred to the Portuguese as suffering from ‘third-season syndrome’ and he is being beaten with that stick again as he begins his third campaign at United.

However, it was a conversation with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher following his second sacking by Chelsea that prophesied his current plight.

Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho gestures as he talks with his players.

Carragher, writing in his column for the Daily Telegraph, recalled a conversation with Mourinho in the aftermath of his Stamford Bridge axing.

“Mourinho once told me after losing his job at Chelsea how he could see how management was evolving, players no longer receptive or tolerant to criticism even behind closed doors,” Carragher wrote. “Power has eroded even for the most formidable of managers.

“It may offer a clue as to the problem he has now, in a dressing room with an ego the size of Paul Pogba’s, who like so many modern players (see Yaya Toure when he was at Manchester City) embarrassingly seems more interested in being loyal to his agent than the club he captains.